Tihar Jail Data Shows Kejriwal Lied to Get Bail from Court Deceptively
Tihar Jail Data Shows Kejriwal Lied to Get Bail from Court Deceptively
With their apparent involvement in a number of crime and corruption cases, it will be a travesty of justice if Kejriwal or any of his jailed AAP colleagues are released on bail for the next few years.
By Rakesh Raman
Delhi chief minister (CM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has been claiming that he lost over 6 kg of his weight during 50 days of his incarceration in Delhi’s Tihar jail.
With this weight-loss excuse, Kejriwal has tried to hoodwink the courts and get bail while his ongoing bail expires on June 1 when he will have to again go to jail in the money laundering case related to Delhi liquor scam.
Most corrupt politicians in India complain of health problems when they are jailed so that they could be shifted from jails to the comforts of luxurious hospitals.
Kejriwal – who was sent to Tihar jail on March 28 in the liquor mafia case – has been claiming that he has lost weight significantly in jail. However, the jail authorities have refuted Kejriwal’s claims.
According to Tihar jail data released on the evening of May 30, Kejriwal’s weight was 65 kg on April 1, 65 kg on April 3, 66 kg on April 8, 65 kg on April 16, 66 kg on April 29 and 64 kg on May 9 a day before his release. That means, his weight has been almost constant.
As he has been trying to get bail and does not want to go to jail, Kejriwal has been claiming that because of his weight loss he may be suffering from serious ailments for which his bail must be extended.
Astonishingly, however, Kejriwal has been running like a stray dog in different parts of the country to campaign for AAP candidates in the Lok Sabha election. He never complained about any health issues. But when he is about to be caged again in jail, he has started making health-related excuses.
Although Kejriwal has been stating that he is not scared of going to jail, he is so timid that he could not spend even a few days in jail and wants to come out on flimsy grounds.
He has been making lame excuses ever since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started calling him for questioning in the liquor scam case. Kejriwal defied nine summonses of ED after which ED officials went to his home to arrest him on March 21.
Earlier, instead of going for the ED hearings, Kejriwal asked the ED officials to interrogate him online, although the ED declined his request. In fact, Kejriwal is not willing to stay in jail despite numerous cases of alleged corruption against him.
Besides corruption in liquor policy case, it is alleged that Kejriwal has squandered public money in excess of Rs. 45 crore to renovate his house. In September last year, the CBI launched a preliminary inquiry into alleged irregularities in the construction and renovation of Kejriwal’s house. Now, Kejriwal is tuned to living in a palace-like home and does not want to be caged in the dark jail cell.
Meanwhile, the ED has named the entire Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an accused in the Delhi liquor policy scam in which a number of AAP politicians are either imprisoned or released on temporary bails.
Also, on April 2, the ED accused AAP leaders of bribery and corruption in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) scam, claiming that AAP used the corruption money as election funds. And, on May 6, Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) V. K. Saxena ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate Kejriwal’s links with terror outfits.
With their apparent involvement in a number of crime and corruption cases, it will be a travesty of justice if Kejriwal or any of his jailed AAP colleagues are released on bail for the next few years.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
